Bored with the Board
by marykent
Summary: What would you do in Queen Consolidated board meetings if you were only masquerading as the personal assistant to Oliver Queen? Felicity got bored, and boredom leads to mischief.
1. Chapter 1

Board With the Board

By marykent in collaboration with the wonderful BlueSuedeShoes

**Chapter 1**

"Oliver, you're not making me sit through another boring meeting. It will be my third pointless meeting today," exclaimed an irate Felicity Smoak, who was looking not a little bit sexy, fuming in her 'personal assistant to the CEO of Queen Consolidated' outfit, if Oliver acknowledged that he noticed. Which he definitely did not. Acknowledge it, that is.

"Felicity, we all have to maintain our image," Oliver flashed her a little smirk before looking back at the spreadsheets on his computer screen. He felt bad about removing her from what she referred to as her "calling" as an IT girl, but not enough to prevent him from enjoying ruffling her feathers. It was not his fault that she was cute when she was annoyed. It made it very difficult not to provoke her sometimes. Aside from that, he liked having her close. In addition to the basic necessity of having her there to discuss missions, he liked having her around much better than his former executive assistant, an ornery, disapproving 60-year-old named Mrs. Cravitz, who had–opportunely–quit after the disaster in the Glades.

Felicity huffed. "But I don't have any business being there. I went to MIT for computer science. I am not trained to sit in board meetings for hours pretending to take detailed notes for you on Queen Consolidated letterhead."

"Too bad," remarked Oliver while standing up and heading to the door. "How does my tie look?" he pressed his lips together, trying not to smile at how exasperated she looked.

Unable to stop herself, Felicity reached up and straightened the half Windsor knot in his tie.

Before she realized what Oliver was doing, he had grabbed her hand and pulled her out of his office toward the conference room. Tricked again. But Felicity couldn't help but enjoy being dragged around by Oliver. Perhaps she could pretend that they were infiltrating an enemy conference room on a mission for information. It was more interesting than reality at least.

* * *

><p>Bored, Felicity thought. Bored by the board. Today's agenda was discussing the possible acquisition of a portion of Warren Patel's company that slowly disintegrated following his incarceration after the Unidec auction. Felicity could have told them within three minutes of hacking into Patel's bullet riddled laptop over a year ago that his company was involved in stuff would finish off what remained of the Queen Consolidated reputation, especially when they were already in fiscally unstable waters following the Malcolm Merlyn fiasco. But two of the board members were adamant, and Felicity had to maintain her cover as Oliver's useless secretary. Personal assistants didn't have the same influence in the vote as Isabel Rochev. The corners of Felicity's mouth fell a little bit every time she looked at Isabel. The correlation between the intensity of her frown and the Isabel's proximity to Oliver was no coincidence either.<p>

Boredom for a tech geek like Felicity was a difficult thing to endure. At best, it usually resulted in perusing the latest threads on tech websites, checking for comments about the newest coding techniques, and searching for new intel on people related to the List. Those topics would suck her into a focused trance where nothing but she and the computer existed. In other words, it would be obvious to every member of the board that she was in her own little world. As a result, she needed an innocent distraction.

She locked eyes with Oliver and a delightful idea dawned on her. A smirk formed on her lips that had Oliver shifting in his seat uncomfortably. He redirected his attention elsewhere, but his eyes darted subtly in her direction multiple times, concerned about what she might be up to.

She would make him an online dating profile, she decided, pulling up matchmaker sites instantly. It was the perfect way to show how irritated she was with board meetings. And when she eventually revealed how she spent what might otherwise have been very productive time in the meeting–at just the right moment, of course. A girl needed leverage now and again – a little crease would form in between his eyes. She smiled to herself. Oliver didn't reveal much about what he was thinking. But that little crease in between his eyes was his tell, and she thought it was cute. She made it her mission to be responsible for it as much as possible.

Serves him right, she thought, a devilish glint in her eyes as she began inputting Oliver's information, all of which she had made it a point to memorize ages ago.

* * *

><p>Her quest began easily enough. Name: Oliver Queen. Hmm…it wouldn't have the same impact if she used an alias. Then again, perhaps the press would catch wind of her practical joke if she didn't use an alias. Oliver King it was then.<p>

Then came the exciting part: providing descriptions of his hobbies. Rescuing damsels in distress, hunting vermin, archery (I was doing it before Katniss made it popular), and abruptly ditching work for exotic destinations on a whim. Would you like to join me?

That was brilliant, Felicity thought to herself. It was actually completely true but it seemed so unlikely that no one would believe it all. What's more, Oliver would be furious.

The board was beginning to stand up. That was her queue to usher everyone out of the meeting. She quickly set down her tablet and began to accompany the daft looking business man sitting next to her out of the room. When she noticed Oliver look her way and then look at the tablet she quickly picked it back up. She would have to keep an eye on it or a suspicious little vigilante would investigate. Turning her back to him, she shook the hands of the board members while they exited.

For once, she was looking forward to the next meeting on the schedule so she could complete her little project.

* * *

><p>"Morning, Felicity. Do you have the notes from the meeting yesterday?" asked Oliver as he sat down at his desk. He quickly spun his chair around facing away from Felicity as he turned his computer monitor on.<p>

After realizing she was staring, Felicity quickly averted her eyes; he was looking particularly nice in a blue pinstripe suit.

"Felicity? Did you hear me?" he questioned.

Felicity jumped a little at the sound of his voice. "Ugh, what was that?"

"Notes – do you have them?" he repeated.

She blinked at him, her face blank.

"Yesterday in that last meeting. You were taking notes. I need them now so that I can figure out my official recommendation to the board about whether we should purchase the subsidiary of Patel's company." By the end he was about ready to start huffing. Judging by Felicity's expression he was not going to like what she would say.

Felicity flattened her lips into a thin line before she began, "First, let me remind you I am not a secretary. I am posing as a secretary. The important difference between those two positions is that I am not obligated to actually wait on you hand and foot. If you want notes, you should take them. Secondly, do you remember nothing of the bullet ridden laptop you gave me? That company will destroy Queen Consolidated if someone takes a close look at their business transactions." She redirected her attention to her computer screen but couldn't help but think that she would gladly wait on him hand and foot.

"I know that company has a dark side, but I have to play the part of the head of a board not a one man dictatorship when the board official votes. That means I need to review yesterday's meeting notes. At MIT you took notes in class right? You are more than capable of taking notes in a meeting. It definitely looked like you were taking notes yesterday," Oliver challenged her.

Felicity lifted her chin and replied, "Well if you must know, I was not taking notes." Her eyes darted toward her tablet where she recalled creating a dating profile, and she bit back an amused smile. "But I did notice that the head of the board was taking his own notes. Why don't you follow his example?"

Oliver pinched the bridge of his nose. His relaxed mood from when he entered the room had evaporated. Why did Felicity have to challenge him on everything? Why did it always have to be a battle? "Look, I'm sure you can get into the security feed and transcribe what happened at the meeting."

Felicity was frustrated. It was a no brainer; Queen Consolidated should not buy the company. Board members just liked to waste everyone's time with discussing nonsense but especially waste her time since she didn't have enough going on by being a fake secretary, IT guru, and sidekick. "If you want to know what happened why don't you ask Isabel?" Felicity scrunched up her nose as she said the other woman's name before ducking her head, concerned that Oliver could see her facial expression over the top of her monitor.

Vexed, Oliver left the office. Felicity turned and watched him leaving over her shoulder. She didn't want him going to talk to Isabel. As far as she was concerned, Isabel should go crawl under a rock and never come near her or Oliver ever again. Luckily, Oliver went the other direction down the hall. Felicity turned back to her computer and quickly began to call up the security from the previous day. Within no time, her fingers flew across the keyboard, recording the pertinent details from the meeting. Grudgingly, she did not fast-forward through all of Isabel's admittedly insightful contributions, but she didn't include all of Isabel's comments either.

While she worked, Oliver had stalked back into the office. She couldn't help periodically darting her eyes in his direction as he tried to put together his proposal. It was clear that he was becoming more and more agitated. Felicity bit her lip and clicked print on the document she had just typed. Then she slipped off her heels and quietly walked over to the printer. She laid the pages on the corner of Oliver's desk.

He jumped a bit when the pages entered his field of view and his surprised eyes quickly found hers. Apparently he was even more distracted than Felicity if she was able to sneak up on the otherwise incredibly alert Oliver Queen. "Here's the sparknotes version of the meeting yesterday. Sorry I didn't take notes for you," she added with a casual shrug.

He just nodded in response and she went back to her desk. She didn't even want to check on the reaction Oliver King's dating profile had attracted overnight now, she was overcome by guilt for whatever was eating at Oliver and keeping him distracted.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Thanks again to the amazing BlueSuedeShoes for helping out with this story!

Oliver drummed his fingers, chewing thoughtfully on the inside of his cheek. He shot a look in Felicity's direction, but she wasn't looking at him like she had been for most of the morning. As the work day wound down, she was answering a couple of phone calls on her blue tooth, typing something rapidly into her computer and unsuccessfully trying to blow a strand of hair from her face. It was probably an appointment for tomorrow. Or next month. Hell, he was probably booked solid for the next twelve months. Vaguely, he remembered how he had felt about taking over his father's company before being stranded on the island. He'd wanted nothing to do with it. Part of him still remembered why.

Not that it mattered.

Felicity made a frustrated face and twisted her neck, trying to get a kink out of her shoulder. She caught his eye and they both immediately pretended they hadn't been looking at the other one. He couldn't figure out what was up with her today. She'd been acting really strangely. And she was up to something. There was no doubt about it because although Felicity might [arguably] be a good secret keeper, she was a horrible liar.

He thought back to this morning, at her gawking when he'd asked for the notes from yesterday. What had she been doing during that meeting if she wasn't taking notes? And more importantly, why couldn't she tell him? What secret could she possibly have left that he didn't know about at this point? Well aside from any of her history prior to his arrival back in Starling City. He would have to figure out what the distinction was between her closed mouth on her history versus her horrible lying another time.

Heaving a tired sigh, he began straightening the items in his in-tray, shoving a few folders in a drawer, and otherwise clearing his desk for the day. He shut down his computer and grabbed his blazer, slipping it over his arms and heading for the door.

When he pushed it open, Felicity jumped and immediately stopped mid-sentence. He frowned. Was it not a business call? Who was she talking to? Eyes narrowed, he started walking toward her desk and watched her scramble to close out of several different windows and devices.

"Yes, thank you, Miss Williams. I'm so sorry, I have to go, but I'll get back to you later about the…erm…plans. Your evening plans, I mean. Er…yeah. No, goodbye. Take care!" she spilled breathlessly before tapping her blue tooth, just in time to look up and find Oliver leaning over her, wiggling the mouse to disable the screen saver on her computer.

"Who was that?" Oliver asked casually.

"No one! Hey, listen," she said, sliding out of her chair and away from his aftershave and those damn pinstripes, "would you consider yourself a lone wolf or an alpha male?"

Oliver paused before slowly turning his head to look at her. "What?" he deadpanned.

"I just wasn't sure. I figure you're definitely not a pack animal, but I couldn't decide between lone wolf and alpha male because even though you're really independent, you're also extremely dominating."

"I…you…what?" Oliver asked finally, completely lost.

"Lone wolf? Or Alpha?"

"Felicity, what on earth are you talking about?" He watched as she pulled her cell phone out and started tapping furiously into it.

"Definitely an alpha."

"FELICITY!"

She jumped. "What? Jeez!"

"Felicity, what were you doing just now, and why are you being so secretive?" he asked, gesturing at her desk where he found she'd cleared her internet history.

"I…nothing. I was just taking care of some plans. For you. I mean not you, obviously, you can take care of your own plans; you're a grown man. Well except for your work plans, technically that's what I get paid to do now–"

"Felicity."

"Shutting up."

"So…you're not going to tell me what you were doing. On the company computer."

"Oliver, you don't want to know half the things I've done on company computers."

He stared at her, and she closed her eyes.

"Dammit," she hissed under her breath.

Oliver gave up. He'd figure it out later. "So listen, I need you and Dig to—"

"What?" she interrupted.

He gave her a look. "You. Me. Dig. Mission."

"Tonight?"

"Yes, Felicity, when else?"

"I can't."

Now he really wanted to know what's up. His jaw ticked in annoyance. "What do you mean, you can't?"

"It's Friday. I have…plans."

"Felicity, this is kind of important."

She was starting to get that fiery look behind her eyes that was usually a good warning that he was stepping into jerk-territory. But he couldn't seem to stop himself. He plowed ahead recklessly, knowing he was going to regret it.

"And my life isn't important?" she demanded.

"Of course it is, but I think we all have to prioritize a little."

"Oh sure, it's not enough that my love-life has been taking it on the chin for months, or that my professional life has gone up in flames, but now my family life has to be thrown off a cliff, too!" she said, voice rising.

"Felicity, it's one night. I hardly think—"

"You don't think, do you? You have no idea the effect that this is having on everyone around you!"

"Is this about Dig again? Felicity, I apologized—"

"MEN!" Felicity yelled in a huff. She walked over to her desk and started throwing her things in her bag, preparing to leave.

"Felicity, I can't read minds. Would you please—"

"You don't have to be able to read minds, Oliver. You just have to use your own goddamn brain! How do you think it looks for me that I got promoted from IT girl to Executive Assistant out of the blue?"

Oliver's mind rippled with the memory of Isabel commenting on Felicity's short skirts. "What were her qualifications?" she'd asked.

"I am tired of getting sideways glances and dirty looks and knowing smirks from everyone in this building! It is killing me!"

"Felicity, we've all–"

"—had to make sacrifices. Dear God, Oliver if I have to hear you say that one more time! Do you understand that the last three dates I've tried to go on have all been interrupted by the vigilante?! Even when I try to hang out with a guy in on the vigilante secret, you want me here instead. And I know you're still angry about me telling Barry, but I thought you would appreciate being alive over being angry that someone else found out. So then I tried to move on and see who else is out there but that's not good enough for you. You need me 24/7. Tell me, when did the company wide 'no dating before marriage' ban go into effect?" Felicity pleaded.

Oliver shifted uncomfortably. His timing…may not have been completely considerate of Felicity's personal life lately. Not that he was going to admit it. She had more important things to do than date twerpy David from her synagogue.

"EXCUSE ME!" Felicity thundered.

Oliver winced almost undetectably. Had he said that last bit out loud? He hated to make Felicity mad but somehow he let his guard slip in her presence. Unfortunately, letting his guard down had a tendency to backfire creating an enraged Felicity. Oliver tried to back pedal. "That's not what I meant," pleaded Oliver. He was going to regret his latest slip of the tongue.

"I work all day at your company and then I work all night for your pet project. And you don't respect me enough to keep your mouth shut about the microscopic amount of personal space that I try desperately to maintain? He is kind and has no criminal history—yes, I did a background check!—but you probably don't understand someone who has a sense of humanity." She snatched up her bag and her tablet before hastily exiting the office. Felicity was irate. It felt like Oliver had attacked her last shred of personal space. How did he know about David? Was he stalking her?

Oliver watched Felicity storm out of the office but didn't know what to do to stop her. Well, he could forcibly restrain her but he knew that would just give fuel to the fire of her anger. Instead he let her go, feeling like a complete heel. He flopped down on his chair and looked out the window of his corner office. The world outside just made him feel smaller and lost. A minute later he noticed a familiar blond ponytail moving down the sidewalk. Felicity didn't have her normal bounce to her step and it was his fault.

Oliver grabbed his phone and called Diggle to bring the car around. He would go to the Foundry and try to work off his frustration. Darn cell phones didn't let you slam the phone after talking on them though.

* * *

><p>Felicity grabbed ice cream out of her freezer and curled up on her sofa with a blanket as soon as she walked into her apartment. Her mother was being her mother again. There was always something dramatic going on. Unfortunately, Felicity lamented again that her mother was never a model of how to have a healthy or lasting relationship with a guy. Instead, she was in her mid-twenties trying to piece together her feelings by trial and error. But mostly by error.<p>

The whole way back to her apartment, Felicity had been stewing over her conversation with Oliver. She wanted to stay angry with him, but she didn't know if she could. She had probably insulted him just as much as he insulted her. She had basically called him inhuman for his violent form of seeking justice. But she had watched his transformation over the last year. He would give second chances to criminals and he would turn over anyone he could to the police rather than letting his wrath overtake him, dropping them with an arrow through the chest. He did respect her opinion on work and Hood related issues. It was just all the personal stuff that they had not worked out yet. She might have an unfortunate lack of filter but she never actually talked with Oliver about how much she wanted to have some personal space outside of their work. Instead she bottled it all up and it overflowed when Oliver talked about Barry or David.

The worst part was Felicity was upset with Oliver for meddling in her personal life, but she was meddling in his too. She created that online dating site behind his back. It was supposed to be a joke, but it always had a malicious edge to it, like it would provide a form of revenge for his disruption to her personal life. The more she reflected on it, the more she thought she might have created it to try to embarrass him. But another thought was tugging at her mind. She might have made the profile to make his emotions directed toward her. Anger was a closely related emotion to love, right? The idea that she wanted Oliver to love her was almost too much though.

She looked down at her pint of mint chip ice cream and realized that half of it was already gone. She needed to do something other than wallow on the couch. She needed to try to apologize to Oliver, if for no other reason than to apologize for leaving work early. She glanced at her tablet, sticking out of her purse from work, and thought about the website. There had been a surprising number of quality women on the site, in between the crazies and the gold-diggers. Maybe the best way to turn this around would be to use it to actually help him. Maybe what Oliver really needed was a night out on the town, not unlike herself.

* * *

><p>Diggle observed that Oliver was doing significantly more stalking around the Foundry than actually working out. Clearly something was frustrating him but he was being his annoyingly tight-lipped self about it. Diggle just tried to distract himself with some reading while Oliver mulled over his latest frustration.<p>

Eventually, Oliver stalked over to Diggle and collapsed in a chair.

Diggle just raised an eyebrow as if he was oblivious to Oliver's foul mood and waited.

Oliver let out a deep breath and began, "Do I demand too much of your personal time with work and Hood stuff?"

"No. But that's not what you wanted to ask," stated Diggle. He pretended to keep reading an article while Oliver stewed some more.

"But you and Carly couldn't work it out. It was because you were doing all this stuff with me wasn't it?" questioned Oliver.

Diggle finally put down his magazine and looked at Oliver. "Felicity and I are different people. You can't ask me questions and expect them to apply to her too."

"Who said anything about Felicity?" shot back Oliver.

"Oliver," Diggle leveled with him, "you don't angrily call me to pick you up from the office where you work with Felicity, pace around the basement with a chip on your shoulder, and then ask me questions about a relationship that ended a year ago, and then expect me to believe it's not about Felicity."

Oliver could do nothing but nod in agreement.

"So what really happened today?" Diggle prompted.

"Felicity got angry when I let slip that she wanted to date a kid that would be no good for her. Then she blew up about how I dominate her personal life before she stormed out."

Diggle's ever-raised eyebrow raised a little hire. "And why exactly was this 'kid' no good for her?"

"She can do better. That's not the point. The point is she thinks I'm making it impossible for her to have a life. Which is ridiculous. I don't ask any more of her than I do of you or myself."

That was a little too easy to argue with, so Diggle bit his tongue. "I see. So Felicity stormed out when you calmly suggested she prioritize her personal life?"

Oliver shifted. That might not have been exactly what happened.

"And now how are you feeling about that?"

"I didn't hire you to be a psychiatrist," Oliver simmered, his forehead creased.

"So you do have a sense of humor locked away somewhere," Diggle said with a slight chuckle. "You had better find a way to apologize to Felicity. She's the best thing that has happened to this little justice-venture you started down here. Not to mention she's done you a lot of good, too. You need to talk to her, and you need to work out some boundaries."

"Fine." Oliver picked up his cell phone and dialed Felicity's number. Just when he was sure it was going to go to voicemail he heard her greeting. "Uh, I just wanted to apologize for what I said this afternoon. Do you think I could make it up to you?"

Oliver didn't hear her respond right away. At least she seemed to be thinking about it. "What do you have in mind?" she asked finally.

"I can buy you some dinner and grovel for most of the meal for your forgiveness, and then we can talk about personal boundaries?" he suggested, hoping the joke would ease her mood. "That is, if you don't have plans tonight. You said something about family, right?"

There was a pause before Felicity ignored the question. "Will you be inarticulate with a side of moody the whole night?" challenged Felicity.

"Maybe."

"Well, at least you're being honest right now. And self-aware. Sure."

"Great, I'll have Diggle pick you up at 7."

"K, and Oliver," Felicity paused before her words spilled quickly out of her mouth; "I'm sorry too and didn't mean to call you inhuman or a stalker."

"Wait you called me a stalker?" he asked.

"Okay, bye!" she scrambled to hang up the phone.

"See you tonight then."

They both sat motionless for a moment after the phone call. Neither knew if the evening was to work on their professional relationship, two friends hanging out, or even a date. What were the appropriate measures to take to date a coworker? And how could they find the courage to be honest with each other?


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

BlueSuedeShoes, you're fantastic! Thanks for contributing all the witty lines in this story.

"Just a sec Dig," Felicity called through the door when she heard a rap of knuckles against the wood. She turned the knob and let the door swing open. Then she hurried over to the other side of the room to grab her heels and the bag she had packed. When she actually looked at who was standing in the doorway, she froze. "Oliver?"

"Hey. I like your hair down like that," Oliver tried to say casually. It was a little lie right after he promised to be honest; she looked beautiful.

Felicity was still frozen in place, "You, but, Diggle was supposed to pick me up. Why are you here?" And before Felicity let Oliver get a word in edgewise, she continued, "I was going to finish styling my hair in the car. I'm not actually ready yet." She began to try and smooth her hair down with her hands before pushing it behind her shoulders. The attempt was futile though. Oliver caught her unprepared and unaware.

"I can wait down the in car if you want more time," Oliver offered trying to be considerate while also trying not to stare. He could use a moment in the car to try and focus on his mission. Tonight was about trying to show Felicity that he actually cared about her, and not just as an employee. She was important.

But Felicity was never one to be predictable. She took a deep breath, slid her heels on, and marched out the door. When she got into the hall, she turned and looked at Oliver still standing in the apartment. "You can close the door after you. You've already seen my uncontrollable hair; we might as well get on with the night."

* * *

><p>Conversation between Felicity and Oliver was stunted in the car. Oliver was overly cautious not to say something that would offend or frustrate Felicity. Meanwhile, Felicity was overtly trying not to let her mouth run ahead of her brain. The last thing she wanted to do was let slip her little secret about starting a dating profile for Oliver at the wrong moment. But she also had to come clean at some point which would require courage.<p>

Together, they needed to figure out how to wave a white flag and call a truce on their secret, hidden feelings.

Felicity was unsure of what to expect for the night. She felt like she had instigated some of the tension between them and she needed to resolve it. In fact, the more she thought about it, the stronger her conviction that she needed to be the one to make it right. But that's easier said than done. And now Oliver was planning the events for the night so who knew what might be on the table.

When it became apparent that they were headed out to the Queen mansion instead of toward any of the trendy downtown places to eat that Oliver normally frequented, Felicity couldn't keep quiet any longer. And hopefully breaking the stunted conversation would be a good thing. "So…this is the way to your house. What do you have planned for tonight?"

"We should be there in a few minutes. I thought you might not want to talk with me in a public restaurant. With your concerns about how people make assumptions about your promotion, I thought we could have a quiet dinner together instead. Nobody to judge," he added when she still looked a bit confused. "Plus, Raisa does do some pretty fantastic cooking and I am hardly ever there to consume it."

Felicity just nodded in response. It was one of those short and perfunctory nods but Oliver could see the question in her eyes that she was trying hard not to ask.

"Is that alright with you?" Oliver prodded.

"Uh huh," was her articulate response.

He desperately needed to do something to snap Felicity out of her silence. This was wildly out of character for her.

Meanwhile, Felicity was feeling guiltier and guiltier. Oliver was taking her to his house. She had set up a date for him for the next night with a promising looking girl from the dating website. Was Oliver the type of guy who would bring a girl back to his apartment in the city – the one she had never been invited to? Or was he the kind of guy who would try not to get close to the girl and therefore go and get a generic (but likely expensive) hotel room? Would he take a blind date to the Queen mansion? These were questions she could not ask him. But she had watched in horror what happened with Oliver and Isabel in Russia. Her train of thought then led her to wonder if Oliver thought she had expectations because he had promoted her and she mentioned what everyone else was assuming. He wouldn't think that about her though, would he? Everything was getting out of control.

Finally, Diggle stopped the car at the circle in front of the Queen mansion's huge wooden doors.

Oliver and Felicity took a deep breath at the same time. Turning to meet each other's eyes, they chuckled together as they exhaled. But it wasn't a chuckle of merriment, they each realized the other was just as nervous but it didn't relieve any of the pressure. Instead, Diggle came around the car and helped Felicity step out. Oliver hurried forward to open the door for Felicity. The action felt regimented and mechanical instead of sincere.

Oliver ran his hand through his short hair and on the spur of the moment made a decision. "Follow me Felicity."

She followed through the main entry, down a hall, and through a door. They were no longer in the public entertaining area of the mansion. When Oliver opened what looked like a closet door, Felicity couldn't contain her thoughts any longer, "I am not playing 10 minutes in heaven with you Oliver. What are we doing here?"

The corner of Oliver's lips twitched with the hint of a smile, the way it so often did when she blurted things out around him. "Felicity. Just wait."

Oliver opened the door and Felicity realized it was a staircase. When they got to the bottom, Oliver flipped a light switch and the room was illuminated in a cool blue color.

A gasp escaped Felicity's lips. They were in the Queen family's wine cellar filled with racks and racks of wine bottles. The collection had to be worth a small fortune.

"Pick out a bottle, any bottle you want," offered Oliver. He watched her carefully trace the labels on a few of the rarer bottles that were imported by his father before Oliver was even born. When it looked like she had conflicting feelings about two good bottles of wine, Oliver said, "If you can't decide between those, what about this bottle?" He showed Felicity the bottle he had stashed before he went to pick her up.

Felicity was stunned. It was THE bottle of wine. The bottle that started it all. A 1982 Lafite Rothschild. Oliver offered her that bottle of wine the night she began to have serious doubts about who Oliver Queen was and what he was doing. She pined after the bottle of wine because if Oliver would give it to her, it meant that he truly thought about what was important to her. In her rationalization of events, this was exactly what she wanted. Oliver Queen following through with a promise to her.

Felicity met Oliver's eyes and pointed at the bottle while she smiled.

"I thought you would like this bottle," stated Oliver before walking back up the stairs.

Felicity tried to compose herself and follow him, but that was easier said than done. He had a terrible habit of fulfilling her childhood fantasies about the ideal man, and he was doing it again. When she was a little girl, when others had dreamed of handsome princes and riding off into the sunset, Felicity had formulated only a vague idea of her perfect man. She loved the idea of the knight in shining armor riding into battle, a hero to the people, willing to make the ultimate sacrifices for good and innocent people. Then he would come home and be a humble, charming guy. Most importantly, he would see Felicity not as some damsel in distress, but as an equal, someone he could count on to go into battle at his side. And here stood Oliver, fairy tale prince and battle-ready warrior combined. He was modern day royalty, a Queen. And the bottle of wine in his hand, it might not be meant as romantic, but the fact that he remembered their history, it was a still a gesture of friendship that had her heart fluttering. As for being a hero to the people? That was a given.

She followed him back up, mind heavy with guilt as she took each step behind him, letting him lead the way out onto a back patio that offered a magnificent view of the Queen estate that wasn't visible from the road. Felicity's breath caught in her chest as she took in the dimly lit lanterns and candles set out on the low stone wall and table. An assortment of cheeses, honeys, fruits, and other hors d'oeuvres had been arranged on tiny plates and bowls, perfect for any wine tasting.

If this was how Oliver put together a night with a friend, she didn't think any girl in Starling City stood a chance, let alone the girls on the dating site.

Her gut tightened. She had to tell him. Oliver, I kind of, sort of, possibly may have created an online dating site for you. She practiced the idea in her mind and shook her head. No, that won't work. She looked up to see Oliver, who had frozen in horror, cork halfway out of the wine bottle. He was staring at her like she had lost her very mind.

Oh, Felicity thought with mild panic. It looks like my mental filter's stopped working again.

"You can say that again," Oliver ground out.

Felicity winced as she replayed the last few moments in her mind again. She just told Oliver she started an online dating site behind his back.

"Are you mad?"

"I…you…I…" he stammered for words and she could see the anger bubbling forward, soon to be out of control.

"I did it for your own good! And partly for mine because I never get a moment's peace but it was mostly for you!" she rushed to defend herself.

"You created an online dating profile for me?" Oliver half shouted. "Are you kidding, Felicity?" he rubbed a hand over his face, trying to reign himself in. "What the — Why, just why, Felicity?"

Felicity swallowed nervously. "It actually got a lot of hits, so—"

"FELICITY WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?' Oliver's mind was reeling. What had she been thinking? "Felicity…" he took a deep breath, controlling himself when he saw the look in her eyes that said plainly how much she didn't like being yelled at, even though she was firmly standing her ground, lips tight in defiance. "Felicity," he repeated, "even if you think you were doing me a favor—which I'm frankly not sure how you could have thought that—this is just so…so…misguided. I mean, do you even have any idea what I look for in a woman?" Never mind the fact that Oliver was starting to think that she herself was exactly what he was looking for.

"Oh, like you do?" Felicity huffed, rolling her eyes. "Oliver, you bounce around more than anyone I've ever met, and you seriously have got to make yourself get back out there." She resisted an urge to make a biting remark about his choices lately, thinking of Isabel and plowed ahead. "I mean, Oliver you are wound so freaking tight lately. You need to have some fun for God's sake—"

That was what he thought he'd been trying to do here, Oliver thought grimly, setting down the as yet still unopened bottle of wine with a sinking feeling.

"—when I scheduled that date for you I figured—"

"YOU WHAT?" Oliver bellowed and Felicity cringed.

"Did I not mention that? Right. Well, I did," she folded her arms protectively. "And she seems really great, and frankly, even if you don't admit that you owe this to yourself because you really, really need to get your mind off work and arrow stuff…well then, you owe it to me because, Oliver, at least one of us deserves to have a life and apparently if you don't have one then I'm not going to have one."

It was like Oliver's entire being had deflated. It hadn't even occurred to her…he glanced at the table set up for them. He moved toward her, reaching out and gently touching her arm, needing to find a way to connect, to get them on the same wavelength. "Felicity, that's what I was trying to…I was trying to apologize for that tonight. I know I haven't been fair to you, I—"

Her face softened and she cut him off before he could finish. "I know, Oliver, and I really appreciate it. But as nice as this is—and," she glanced around her at the candlelight, the wine, the romantic setting in general, "this is incredibly nice—it's not going to fix the problem. Please do this for me. She seems really great online. And you might actually have fun, although I know that's a foreign concept," she teased and Oliver looked up, clearly biting his tongue. "And if you don't have a good time then you don't have to see her again. And I'll let you have the password to the dating site so you can take it down if you still want to. But I think you should consider it."

Oliver studied her carefully before finally dropping his hand from her arm and stepping away. "So let me get this straight: I go out with this girl one time—"

"Just once," she encouraged eagerly as Oliver finally finished removing the cork from their wine and began pouring it into the decanter.

"—and then when I know she's not the one—"

"If," she corrected.

"–when," he insisted. "Then you'll let me take down this ridiculous site?"

She nodded. "Yes, if you still want to," she added hopefully. Felicity noticed Oliver was beginning to look devious. Then she realized something she should have thought of before. "No, you will not conveniently slip out of the restaurant and leave your date hanging. You have to spend the whole meal with her. Talk to her. Relax. I'll have surveillance on you so don't try anything crafty.

Oliver deflated a little but relented, "All right Smoak." He poured a little of the wine into two glasses and offered her one. For her, he'd do it. He'd take the girl out to a nice dinner, let her down easy, and then return to the master plan of winning Felicity over. "You've got a deal. I take her out on one date, and then the webpage goes down. Immediately," he added, so they'd be clear.

Felicity grinned. "You won't regret it. Tomorrow night, dinner for two, reservations at 8:00. Dress sharp and go with an open mind," she informed him.

The corner of his mouth pulled into a smirk and he clinked glasses. "You're on," he informed her as they both took a sip.

Felicity grinned not just from the quality of the wine, which was absolutely delicious. "Good," she said, "and then I can finally stop postponing my date with David."

Oliver choked a little when she mentioned David again. He would have to do something about this David character.

* * *

><p>Leave me a review to let me know what you think of the story!<p> 


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Big thanks to BlueSuedeShoes for her help with this story!

Oliver pulled into the valet at a new restaurant in Starling City. He was not excited about this evening but he had to follow through with his bargain with Felicity. He would never be able to get the dating site down without her approval due to her far superior computer skills. He also felt like he had to prove to her that he could be a regular person, if only for one night.

Plus, his previous non-date, test the waters to see if they could date, data had backfired on him. Now he had to redeem himself.

He stepped up to the hostess and she immediately started eyeing him; Oliver wanted to bail on this evening. Before he could say anything, the girl said, "Oliver, we have your table ready, right this way." Felicity did manage to use his cover up name, right? So how did the hostess know who he was? He should have asked more questions about how this 'Oliver King' thing was going to go. Should he tell the girl he was meeting he was actually the Oliver Queen if she didn't recognize him?

He followed her to a quiet table with an exceptional view of the city. When the waiter arrived, Oliver ordered a bottle but could only think of the bottle he shared with Felicity the day before. This would be a long night. He had to remind himself – Felicity was worth this. He would ultimately win her over. Letting her set him up for a blind date was tolerable if she eventually realized she was his type.

That's when he realized, he could make her realize it much faster if he used Felicity's tactics.

Oliver was so wrapped up in his thoughts he didn't notice his date had arrived. Hurriedly he stood and extended his hand. But she reached out to hug him. It was an awkward few seconds before they hugged and sat.

"Abby, it's so nice to meet you," Oliver stated, trying to sound like he believed his own words.

Luckily for Oliver, Abby delighted in carrying the entire conversation, appetizers through the shared dessert, Abby insisted on sharing the chocolate molten cake. At least she didn't try to feed him any of it.

"It's been a wonderful evening, I really enjoyed our conversation," said Abby. She was a nice person, she told him about the charity work she did, the dog she rescued from the shelter, and how close she was with her parents. But she wasn't the girl for him.

"It was nice," Oliver later stated. And it was true—Oliver had had plenty of time to generate his plan to win over Felicity and he was anxious to put it into action.

"There is a new gallery opening at the Starling City gallery on Friday, would you like to go?"

Oliver sighed. This was why he really hated blind dates, especially when he already knew who he wanted to be on a date with. "No thanks," how do you let down a nice girl? "You're really nice–"

"Gotcha," Abby stated before turning to leave. "If you change your mind, message me."

* * *

><p>Oliver returned to Queen Consolidated to put his new plan into action. Hopefully Felicity wouldn't check his browser history and discover what he was up to.<p>

He fumbled his way through logging into his dating profile. He read through everything on his page. Did Felicity really put he enjoyed rescuing damsels in distress? There was that time when the Dodger put a bomb around her neck (which also happened to be the evening she wore a particularly memorable gold dress that still made Oliver's mouth go dry when he thought about it). And then they broke into Merlyn Global and escaped through the elevator shaft (the scene of one of Felicity's more memorable Freudian slips). Not to mention the underground casino, when he'd had to come charging in to her rescue once again (and the first time Felicity had called him her 'partner'). He wondered if Felicity thought about those times when she wrote his bio.

Oliver signed up to create a new account. But instead of making an account for himself, he created one for Felicity Smoke. She slightly altered his name; he could use a homophone for her name too, right? He narrowed the characteristics of the person she was looking for so that her profile would match his own profile. Sure enough, when Oliver checked who the top compatible people were for Felicity Smoke's account, the smiling picture of Oliver King made it on the list. Now he just had to bait her into going on a date.

* * *

><p>Felicity was bored of David. He was predictable, stable, safe. Everyone at the synagogue was encouraging them. Her mom seemed to think he was everything her Dad was not which gained her approval. But Felicity wasn't excited about the relationship. For all the talk of wanting some personal time, the evening wasn't even a good break from life. She would prefer to be bored in board meetings over sitting through this date a second time. And that was saying something – Isabel was at board meetings so there were awful.<p>

Instead, she spent the night reflecting on their experiences in Hebrew school. Then he asked about her work. That was a stunted topic – she couldn't talk about her work for the hood and she didn't want to talk about being Oliver's executive assistant much. It was demeaning enough during office hours. She didn't want to discuss it on a date, too.

Finally, Felicity convinced David that continuing their discussion on the recent good weather in Starling City was not interesting. She high tailed it out of the restaurant and straight to the Foundry. As she descended the stairs, Felicity asked, "Why didn't I get a couch for this place? I really want a place to just flop down and kick off these horrible shoes."

Felicity surveyed the scene. Diggle had apparently found somewhere else he needed to be that night. Probably with Lyla again, denying they had chemistry. Oliver was seated cleaning leather with what smelled like saddle soap.

"Please tell me there's a case we need to get on tonight," Felicity declared. "Or even a lonely cat stuck in a tree. Anything. I need something to eliminate the numbness in my brain."

"But it's your night off. The night off you insisted on," stated Oliver while picking up the next boot to be scrubbed. "Besides, I only just got here. Someone insisted that I also go on a date." He gave her a meaningful look.

"Forget I ever said those things. I want to work on something. I am fully committed to this team Arrow thing. Let's find something messy happening tonight to keep busy. Maybe you can even find something where I need to go undercover. That will definitely make me forget about this abomination of a date night."

"So I take it the date didn't go well?" asked Oliver.

Felicity just glared back at him.

"So no questions about how my date went?" asked Oliver, although perhaps 'baited' was a better description.

Felicity sat down and responded, "Yes, how did your date go?"

"It went well, thanks for asking. I mean, she's not the girl for me, but I have another date from your dating website lined up for tomorrow." Oliver discretely looked up at Felicity.

She was surprised, the shock was clear on her face. "Ugh, you like blind dates that much? And, and what about the innocent people of Starling City? They need someone out there protecting them because the police department just can't keep up with everything at once. You can't take two days off in a row."

"I guess the citizens will just have to watch their own backs for a night." He stood up and returned his boots to their shelf. "So I'm going to be busy tomorrow night, what will you be doing?" asked Oliver.

"Since I normally never have a free night – no thanks to you- the top possibilities for my evening entertainment are actually buying groceries for my apartment, cleaning the apartment I am never in, or catching up on work since I have two full time jobs for you that keep me from having time to myself to catch up on items one and two on my list of possible things I might do tomorrow."

Felicity's date really didn't go well Oliver observed. She was normally never so vehement with her complaints.

"Well, I guess I can narrow down the possibilities for what you do tomorrow night," stated Oliver. He walked by her desk and dropped a manila folder in front of her. "Got to go, see you tomorrow!" he called out as he made for the exit, hoping this plan wouldn't turn sour on him. Was it a good sign when he glanced over his shoulder at Felicity and noticed a twinkle in her eye despite the scowl on her face?


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Many thanks to BlueSuedeShoes for all of her edits and advice on this story!

Felicity tried to glare at Oliver as he left. But really, she was glad to have a project to work on. Her date had been miserable and she wanted to bury any memories of the awkward encounter by diving into a project.

The file folder was an Arrow project. It had the label sticker on the spine and a paperclip holding a picture of the suspect inside the folder. Like all mysteries for Felicity, it had magnetic pull. She couldn't resist. Walking over, she picked up the folder and sat down in her swivel chair. Who was the unlucky victim of Oliver's vigilante work this time?

She read the name and immediately did a double take. Plain as day in Oliver's scrawl was Felicity Smoke written on the label. What was that insufferable man thinking? She couldn't help but smile.

Her curiosity overwhelmed her and she opened the file. Paper clipped to the folder was a candid picture of her in the foundry. It was actually a cute picture. She was wearing her favorite earrings and Oliver had captured an inquisitive expression on her face. Apparently whatever project she was working on was engrossing because she didn't remember Oliver taking that picture. If she had, she surely would have swatted him away immediately.

Then she looked at the papers enclosed. Oliver had set up a dating profile for her. She couldn't help a burst of self-deprecating laughter at the realization. Well, that explained why he spelled her name wrong—just getting a little payback for what she did to him. An eye for an eye.

She skimmed through the bio he wrote about her. For an antic of revenge, it was actually kind of…flattering. A little crease formed in her brow. Then she got to the last page of the file. It was a simulated conversation between Oliver King and Felicity Smoke. In the conversation Oliver King coyly asked Felicity Smoke to accompany him to dinner the next night. What's more, she accepted.

The conversation ended after Oliver King said, "Great, I'll pick you up at 7. Then after the date you can have the password to your account and do what you want with it."

That sneaky bastard had trumped her prank. Now she was trapped into another date, but one that she found, oddly enough, she was not dreading despite her dating experience earlier that evening. She smirked.

* * *

><p>The next day was an ordinary day on the executive floor of the Queen Consolidated Headquarters. Oliver had half a dozen meetings to attend. As a result, he was constantly bustling in and out of his office throughout the morning.<p>

Overnight a stack of papers materialized on Felicity's desk which she was busily attending to all morning. Payroll had made some kind of error which the head of the office was trying to push up the corporate ladder so they did not have to deal with it. However, Felicity adamantly did not want to deal with it either. The battle of wits was swinging in Felicity's favor though. She might have also made a note on the head of payroll's file about their resistance to doing tasks specifically designated for the payroll office, in addition to letting the error develop in the first place.

Before Felicity or Oliver knew it, it was lunch time. This presented an interesting dilemma for the two. Normally, there would be friendly banter between them all morning as they each complained about a staff member or mundane task they had to perform. When lunch time rolled around, one of them would announce they had a craving for a favorite restaurant's take out and volunteer to order two meals.

The atmosphere between Oliver and Felicity wasn't tense throughout the morning, but it was charged. They each seemed to be walking on eggshells and neither wanted to be the first to break the silence. They were sharing little smiles, but neither had actually talked to the other.

Isabel Rochev managed to solve that dilemma though. "Oliver," she demanded his attention when she stepped into the office.

Felicity watched Oliver look Isabel up and down before turning back to her computer screen in disgust. What could Oliver possibly see in that girl?

"Humm," responded Oliver. He looked for all the world like the son of a billionaire in that moment: dressed in a tailored charcoal suit and about to cave to whatever demands Isabel had for his time.

"Lunch meeting, how could you forget?" whined Isabel.

Felicity pulled up Oliver's schedule for the day. There was no lunch meeting scheduled. Oliver had turned back to her and his facial expression asked Felicity if there really was a meeting. All she could do in response was shrug.

And so Oliver dutifully followed Isabel to the conference room while Felicity grabbed her purse. It was a comfort food day; she needed to forget about Oliver and Isabel. Well, try to forget about them.

Meanwhile Oliver was in a meeting with Isabel and a representative of Unidec Industries. The subsidiary was trying to get back on their feet after the Markov Device fiasco. Today, that mean they were boring Oliver with proposals for a new direction for their research: software engineering. Oliver just kept thinking about how excited Felicity would be if Unidec decided to go in a tech focused path. She was really the one that should be in this meeting, Oliver didn't have any real idea what the proposal was about; Felicity would explain it to him later.

Eventually, the presentation concluded and Oliver was freed from the meeting. Of course, he couldn't escape Isabel that easily. She insisted on asking him numerous questions about his impression of the Unidec presentation, results of the previous board meetings, and his plans for the coming company party. She ended up leaning against the wall across from his office while he was trapped in conversation with her. Didn't she know the walls were all glass, anyone could see her trying to flirt with him. She was obviously trying to get him to invite her to accompany him to the company party; he just didn't want Felicity to see this encounter.

Finally escaping Isabel's clutches, Oliver returned to his office. As he expected Felicity was adamantly trying to ignore him. Of course, Oliver had been watching Felicity for long enough that he knew she was hurt by the interaction between Isabel and Oliver in the hallway. To try and show her Isabel didn't matter to him, he finally broke the silence between them. "So you will be ready at 7 tonight? In case you haven't called every restaurant in town to figure out what I have planned, I have a reservation at the new Mediterranean restaurant by the marina. I made a special request for a table with a view of the marina…so we'll catch the sunset," he added when she still hadn't said anything. "…if you decide to come, that is?"

Felicity just nodded her head but the blush on her cheeks gave her away. She was pleased. He had a feeling that she was keeping her mouth shut to keep herself from babbling. The corner of his mouth twitched at the thought, but he turned his head to hide it.

Right on schedule, at seven o'clock Oliver knocked on Felicity's door.

When Felicity opened the door, after hurriedly grabbing her heels and shoving some stuff into her purse, she was not greeted by the traditional bouquet of flowers. Instead, Oliver had brought something much, much better. "Ice cream! How thoughtful!" exclaimed Felicity.

Oliver faked being put off by Felicity's response, "Just what every guy wants to hear when they arrive for the first date. The girl is excited about the food rather than the guy."

"Don't you know that the way to a girl's heart it through the delivery of Ben and Jerry's? I'll just go put this in the freezer." As she walked away she called over her shoulder, "and don't think you will get to eat any of this pint, it's all mine now."

Oliver just chuckled. He was glad that the silence from earlier in the day was apparently no longer an issue.

Together, they walked to Oliver's car and he quickly sped toward the restaurant. All that time, and she was still biting her tongue. "Felicity, just spit it out, what are you thinking about now?"

"It's just what you said back at my house. Is this really our first date? Or is it some kind of weird role playing thing because you never actually asked me out on a date. And while we are on the subject of how we arrived at this point headed toward a dinner together, why did you think I gave you a whole different last name? Smoak and Smoke are spelled differently but they sound the same. That means that during conversation I won't know if you are talking to me, Smoak, or that phony Smoke who has all the same interests as me but her profile didn't say anything about her strange tendency to babble causing her endless embarrassment."

"Prattling like that?" Oliver asked while he cocked an eyebrow at her.

"Case in point," she stated.

"Felicity," Oliver began in a serious tone. "Will you go out on a date with me?"

Felicity smiled back at him. It was her radiant smile that he loved. "Yes, on one condition."

"I'm supposed to be a business man now; you can't expect me to accept a condition when I have not heard the terms."

Felicity smiled, "If we end up back at my apartment you have to stop and get your own pint of ice cream. I can eat an entire pint in one sitting and I don't like to share."

"And I assume this condition will hold for all ice cream pints in the future too?" Oliver asked with a crocked smile.

"You learn quickly, young grasshopper." Felicity said in an imitation of Master Po. "It's also true for milkshakes, French fries, and boxes of Girl Scout cookies. I will allow bartering though."

"It's good that we lay these ground rules before I make a fool of myself when I try to sample your meal without permission and you go off on a tirade."

Felicity just smiled at Oliver. She was doing a lot of smiling that evening, she realized, so unlike the evening she spent with David.

Upon arriving at the restaurant they were lead to a table with the promised view of the marina as the sky was beginning to turn a breathtaking flaming gold.

The conversation flowed easily. Once the strange awkwardness of admitting that they were going on a real date had passed, Oliver and Felicity settled into their familiar camaraderie as they discussed topics deeper than the weather but never talking about their relationship or why they were together for the meal. However, Oliver had asked the waitress to make sure the wine glasses remained full, which eventually helped to loosen their tongues.

"So how does this dinner compare with your lunch with Isabel today?" Felicity asked.

"Not even close. I have not been concerned at any point that you might try to hit me," Oliver smiled.

"But…I mean, she's just, don't you feel like she's more on your level?" Felicity pressed. "She's the enterprising young professional. With sexy model legs. And she's your partner at Queen Consolidated. She has a stellar business reputation, even if it is cut throat and devious. The media would love to put you two together. Starling City's most eligible bachelor with the stunning rags to riches business princess of the city. They're probably twelve-year-old girls just waiting to combine your photos to see what your creepy computer-generated children would look like." Felicity frowned. Wine. She needed more wine.

"Just because the media thinks it would be great doesn't mean it's right for me." His mouth tugged into a smile. "Or our extremely hypothetical creepy future children. We don't have anything to talk about except arguing about how to run the company." Oliver stated.

Felicity was insistent though, "But you both speak Russian. And drink vodka like it's water. I speak tech and get drunk after…" she mentally calculated, "about two and a half glasses of wine apparently. You both circulate among the rich and famous of Starling City. I circulate IT pamphlets at the office!" the pitch of her voice was rising slightly. "The two of you have so much in common," she argued. She couldn't help it. She'd always liked Oliver, but they'd never made sense as a couple. Even she could see that. And she'd always assumed he did, too. "I'm just a plain IT girl who wound up as your executive assistant. She's the freaking fairy queen." It was her fear that Oliver still had feelings for Isabel.

"I know, and have you checked out her teeth?" asked Oliver.

"I know! She has perfect pearly white teeth," added Felicity. She didn't realize Oliver's type was good teeth but whatever.

Oliver chuckled. "Felicity, you missed my point. When you are evaluating a horse to buy you always check its teeth first. But that's if you are looking to make an investment for pragmatic purposes. You don't fall for a person because of their resumé. You fall for a person. And I sure haven't fallen for Isabel."

"But that night in Russia you were all over Isabel! How am I supposed to compete with that?" cried Felicity, not realizing she had been waving her fork around haphazardly for several minutes, and almost thrown it at the waiter when he came to check on them but promptly retreated in light of the conversation underway.

"You don't have to compete with that," Oliver told her firmly, hand reaching out to still hers. "I was lonely and let it get the best of me. It's not going to happen again. She and I…we're not interested in each other long term. We never were."

Felicity still looked unsatisfied with his answer.

"Look, I arranged for both of us to be here tonight. I could have had dinner with Isabel but I choose to have dinner with you. Hell, I could have had dinner with the entire list of women you so kindly arranged to auction me off to," he reminded. "And with the exception of this topic, I would like to repeat dinners like this with you again very soon."

Felicity looked up at Oliver through her eyelashes. "You would? And you're sure you're not interested in Isabel?"

"Of course I'm sure. You are the one I trust," stated Oliver. "And really, Felicity, there are a lot of women out there who have a lot of great qualities, but no one, not even Isabel, can compete with you in the category of adorable babbling." He winked and she rolled her eyes, but grinned anyway.

At the end of the date Oliver pulled some folded papers out of his blazer jacket pocket. It was Felicity's password information for her dating profile.

Felicity picked up one of the chocolate covered strawberries and took a large bite and chewed. She knew Oliver was watching her like a hawk. After dragging out the agony for Oliver she responded, "I guess it wouldn't hurt if Oliver King was able to continue to courting Felicity Smoke."

"Good, because Oliver Queen would like to invite Felicity Smoak to the company party next week."

Felicity reached over and punched Oliver on his bicep. "You only give me one week's notice to get ready for a party? That's incredibly rude. My boss is notorious for not giving me time off. It says so right here in my profile," she tapped the paper, brandishing it with an arched eyebrow. "Don't you know how long it takes to go dress shopping and then find matching accessories? I can't just wear anything; I'm going with Oliver Queen."

Oliver grabbed the profile out of her hand and smiled, wrapping an arm around her waist, "Well in case you didn't notice in my profile, it says I'm spontaneous. So you're just gonna have to get used to it."

She straightened her glasses, flushed as she smiled up at him.

"Felicity?"

"Mmhmm?"

"I'm glad you're going. I would have been really bored without you to keep it unpredictable," he smirked before leaning in to kiss her.

-The End

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